From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Minority caucus in the House of Representatives has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the amendment to the Electoral Act passed last week by the chambers of the National Assembly.
The caucus in a statement by the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, yesterday, said this had become necessary to avert “an imminent political crisis in the country.”
The parliament had last week altered Section 84(8) of the Electoral Act to provide for statutory delegates at political parties congresses and conventions for the nomination of candidates for the 2023 polls.
However, the opposition lawmakers noted that President Buhari’s delay in giving assent to the fresh amendment, “has thrown the nation into serious confusion and constitutes a huge threat to our democracy and the smooth conduct of the 2023 general elections.
“Any further delay in signing the amendment to the Electoral Act to give political parties a sense of direction in the conduct of primaries for the election of candidates for the 2023 general elections has the capacity to derail our entire democratic process and destabilise our dear nation.
“As representatives of the people, the Minority Caucus urges Mr. President to avert an imminent political crisis which has the capacity of exacerbating the security situation in the country by immediately signing the Amendment to the Electoral Act 2022 and leave a legacy of a credible electoral process to the nation. Our caucus calls on all Nigerians, the civil society, the international community and all lovers of democracy to prevail on President Buhari to immediately sign the amendment to the Electoral Act 2022 and save our nation from an avoidable crisis.”
